


Greed and Blind Optimism

by itsquietcompany



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alcohol, M/M, Post-TLJ, injuries, rated m for some mild nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 21:30:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18213878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsquietcompany/pseuds/itsquietcompany
Summary: After Crait, Hux needs to forge new alliances.





	Greed and Blind Optimism

Ren stormed off as soon as they reached the Finalizer after their departure from Crait. Hux debriefed his staff, checked the command bridge and set up a meeting with the High Council for the next cycle, until the pain in his side became unbearable and he retreated to his quarters.

He decided to calm his nerves first, so he opened his liquor cabinet and poured himself a whiskey.

How had his life gone downhill so fast? After Starkiller he had thought it couldn’t get much worse. Then Snoke had given him a second chance, and because of his personal connection to the Supreme Leader his rivals couldn’t get to him. Now with Snoke gone, Hux was prey. Peavey and the other old Imperials hated working under him, and they knew – or at least had reason to assume – Ren wouldn’t come after them if they killed him. If Ren didn’t do it himself.

He itched to go back to the bridge and be _present,_ to remind everybody that his skill as a commander and engineer had shaped the First Order into greatness and that a minor setback couldn’t stop him, that he was fucking _irreplaceable,_ but right now he was too burned out, mentally and physically.

Hux took a sip and allowed his mind to settle down.

In the subsequent quiet he became aware of the sound of running water – there was someone in his shower, he realized; as the adrenaline rushed back into his veins he gripped his blaster, and at the same moment he knew it was futile. Only one person on this ship would dare to impose him like that, and he could stop a blaster bolt with a wave of his hand.

Like being pulled by a string, Hux stepped closer to his fresher. He couldn’t form a coherent thought anymore; even after everything that had happened today, this was too unpredictable. The fresher door stood slightly ajar and through the milky glass of the shower he could make out a tall, broad, black-haired shape, confirming what he had already suspected. ~~~~

The water tuned off and Ren stepped out of Hux’s shower, reaching for a towel. Hux hadn’t made a sound but Ren must have sensed his presence. This was all going according to whatever Ren’s plan was, he must’ve waited for stars know how long in the shower for Hux to return to his quarters, just to make a grand entrance – Hux knew that, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to interfere. Wouldn’t even know how.

The fresher door was pushed open entirely and Ren stepped into Hux’s bedroom, only wrapped into a towel. Water dripped from his hair. Hux noted distantly how well-built Ren was: long legs, toned stomach, a broad chest and strong arms – at any other time he would be thrilled to have such a man in his quarters.

Ren’s gaze fell on the blaster that Hux still held, before he met Hux’s eyes with a questioning look.

“May I get dressed?”

“You may.”

Ren dropped the towel unceremoniously and pulled on his underwear. Hux lowered his weapon.

“Why am I still alive?” he asked, and found that he was too perplexed to still feel his bruised body.

“Do you trust me?”

Kylo had to know that the answer was no – he was evaluating Hux’s will to cooperate. Cooperate to do what? Hux’s eyes wandered down Ren’s still largely nude form. It seemed obvious that way.

“Trust is driven by an emotional sense of what to do and a _very conscious_ sense of what not to do”, Hux said, drawing his eyes up to meet Ren’s. He tried to read him, but Ren was unusually impassive, completely contrary to his earlier outbursts.

“Are you taking into account my beliefs about your intentions?”

“My intentions?” Again, an evaluation. The memory of him pulling his blaster in the throne room on an unconscious Ren flashed through Hux’s mind.

“Human motivation can be little more than lucid greed,” Ren said softly.

This, of course, was true for both of them. Hux made a split second decision: This was an opportunity to control as much as it was a risk of being controlled. Ren knew this, too. But it was also a necessity: He couldn’t run the First Order without Hux’s experience and Hux needed an ally to secure his position.

“Greed and blind optimism”, he said, putting on a guarded smile.

Ren’s lips curled slightly upwards.

“You’re optimistic I won’t kill you.”

Hux put his blaster’s safety back on and took another sip of whiskey.

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue is taken from _Hannibal_ Ep. 3x01 “Antipasto”, written by Bryan Fuller and Steve Lightfoot.


End file.
